1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for interactively selecting and activating groups of electrically powered devices and, more particularly, pertains to a system for interactively selecting, activating and monitoring the usage of groups of electrically powered devices such as computers and computer peripheral devices and household appliances.
2. Description of the Related Art
Within the last few years, more and more retail outlets specializing in the rental of computer equipment have appeared in this country. A known approach to monitoring the usage of computers and peripheral devices is through a network such as Novell. Such an approach to monitoring the statuses of electrically powered equipment for the purpose of generating billing is deficient in that it is highly complicated, requires bidirectional communications and cannot readily be adjusted to compensate for changes in the communication interfaces and interface hardware of the monitored devices.
In addition to monitoring usage of computers and computer peripheral devices, it is desirable to be able to remotely activate and deactivate such devices. Current X10 technology employing A/C lines is deficient in that it does not provide bidirectional feedback.
Known computer rental outlets depend upon activation inputs from human employees and, therefore, operate at greater expense. Accordingly, it is also desirable to provide a system which automates the activation and deactivation of electrically powered devices. Although it is known to functionally connect an electrically powered device to a mechanism for receiving payment, the art is devoid of a self-service system which allows multiple users to simultaneously select, activate and prepay for the use of groups of electrically powered devices.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a system which allows multiple users to simultaneously select and activate groups of electrically powered devices.
A further object is to provide a system controller which facilitates simultaneous selection by more than one user of groups of electrically powered devices, automated activation of the groups of devices after prepayment is received, automated deactivation of the devices, and automated generation of receipts for each of the users.
Another object is to provide a system including a user input mechanism in the form of an interactive, touch-sensitive video display for entering user inputs including a designation of a selected group of electrically powered devices.
Another object is to provide a control module which receives user inputs and, in response thereto, generates: control signals for driving an interactive video display, switching control signals for a power switching device, and communication link control signals for establishing communication links between electrically powered devices.